Languages › French All About the French Regular Verb 'Passer' ('to Pass') Print Compassionate Eye Foundation/Morsa Images/Getty Images French Grammar Pronunciation & Conversation Vocabulary Resources For Teachers By ThoughtCo Team Updated on February 18, 2019 Passer ('to pass') is a very common and useful regular -er verb, by far the largest group of verbs in the French language. It may be used as a transitive verb that takes a direct object or an intransitive verb, and in doing so, its compound tenses are conjugated with either avoir or être. Intransitive 'Passer' + 'être' With no direct object, passer means "to pass" and requires être in the compound tenses: Le train va passer dans cinq minutes. > The train is going to pass / go past in five minutes.Nous sommes passés devant la porte à midi. > We passed by the door at noon When followed by an infinitive, passer means "to go / come to do something": Je vais passer te voir demain. > I'll come (by to) see you tomorrow.Pouvez-vous passer acheter du pain ? > Can you go buy some bread? Transitive 'Passer' + 'Avoir' When passer is transitive and has a direct object, it means "to pass," "to cross," "to go through," and it requires avoir as the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses. On doit passer la rivière avant le coucher du soleil. > We need to cross the river before sunset.Il a déjà passé la porte. > He has already gone through the door. Passer is also used transitively with a period of time to mean "to spend": Nous allons passer deux semaines en France. > We're going to spend two weeks in FranceJ'ai passé trois mois sur ce livre. > I spent 3 months on that book Transitive versus Intransitive While the meanings are nearly the same, the difference is in the object (the noun following the verb). If there is no object, or if a preposition separates the verb and object, the verb is intransitive, as in Je suis passé devant la porte. If there's no preposition, as in J'ai passé la porte, it's transitive. 'Se Passer' The pronominal se passer most often means "to take place," "to happen," or, in reference to time, "to go by." Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? > What's going on?Tout s'est bien passé. > Everything went smoothly.Deux jours se sont passés. > Two days went by. Expressions With 'Passer' With idiomatic expressions using the French verb passer, you can butter someone up, handcuff someone, kick the bucket, and more. passer + clothing > to slip on/intopasser + infinitive > to go do somethingpasser à la douane > to go through customspasser à la radio/télé > to be on the radio/TVpasser à l'heure d'été > to turn the clocks foward, begin daylight saving timepasser à l'heure d'hiver > to turn the clocks back, end daylight saving timepasser à pas lents > to pass slowlypasser de bons moments > to have a good timepasser de bouche en bouche > to be rumored aboutpasser des faux billets > to pass forged moneypasser devant Monsieur le maire > to get marriedpasser du coq à l'âne > to change the subject, make a non sequiturpasser en courant > to run pastpasser en revue > to list; to go over in one's mind, go through (figurative) passer (en) + ordinal number > to put in ___ gearpasser l'âge de > to be too old forpasser l'arme à gauche (familiar) > to kick the bucketpasser la journée/soirée > to spend the day/eveningpasser la main dans le dos à quelqu'un > to butter someone uppasser la tête à la porte > to poke one's head around the doorpasser le cap > to get past the worst, turn the corner, get over the hurdlepasser le cap des 40 ans > to turn 40passer le poteau > to cross the finish linepasser les bornes > to go too farpasser les menottes à quelqu'un > to handcuff someonepasser par > to go through (an experience or intermediary)passer par de dures épreuves > to go through some rough timespasser par toutes les couleurs de l'arc-en-ciel > to blush to the roots of one's hair, to turn pale (from fear)passer par l'université > to go through collegepasser pour > to take for, be taken forpasser quelque chose à quelqu'un > to pass/hand something to someonepasser quelque chose aux/par profits et pertes > to write something off (as a loss)passer quelque chose en fraude > to smuggle somethingpasser quelque chose sous silence > to pass something over in silencepasser quelqu'un à tabac > to beat someone uppasser quelqu'un par les armes > to shoot someone by firing squadpasser sa colère sur quelqu'un > to take out one's anger on someonepasser sa mauvaise humeur sur quelqu'un > to take out one's bad mood on someonepasser sa vie à faire > to spend one's life doing Conjugations You can see all the tenses of passer, both simple and compound, conjugated elsewhere. For now, below is the present tense to illustrate that passer hews exactly to regular -er conjugation endings. Present tense: je passetu passesil passenous passonsvous passezils passent Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Team, ThoughtCo. "All About the French Regular Verb 'Passer' ('to Pass')." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/french-verb-passer-1368892. Team, ThoughtCo. (2023, April 5). All About the French Regular Verb 'Passer' ('to Pass'). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/french-verb-passer-1368892 Team, ThoughtCo. "All About the French Regular Verb 'Passer' ('to Pass')." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/french-verb-passer-1368892 (accessed September 5, 2024). copy citation